Thursday, September 10, 2015

A DAY IN COURT

Well, not for me but my wife had to testify in a child custody court hearing and wanted me to pick her up as soon as she was finished. Her back still bothers her and she was worried that sitting on hard court benches all day would cause a real bad flair-up. As it turned out, I would not have needed to take the day off work, as the court session was over by eleven and she was home by noon.

Not to worry, the day did not go wasted as I started early in the morning by taking some scrap metal to Hebron Scrap Metal Recycling, then headed to Lowe's to pick up some plugs and receptacles to make up adapter cords so the Fiero can be charged from a 220 volt NEMA 14-50 receptacle or a 110 volt standard plug. I ended up making up adapter cords, one with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and a NEMA 14-50 plug, another with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and a standard 110 volt plug, and finally, one a 15 ft #10 SO cable with a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and plug. This should pretty much fix me up for charging at an RV park or at anywhere with a standard 110 volt outlet. After the cords were finished, I top charged the battery using 110 volts and it worked fine.

CHARGE ADAPTER CORDS

Last night the center console cover I had made to hide a crack in the console was attached again with contact cement and today was installed back in the car. Also the instrument panel back was installed and the radio and heater control cover plate was bolted back on. The interior looks pretty good now.

INTERIOR BACK TOGETHER

Then my focus turned to cleaning up the motor compartment, rear trunk, and front trunk where the batteries are mounted. After spraying the motor compartment areas that were not close to any electrical connections and painting the exposed areas in the trunk with satin black paint, everything was wiped down with Armor All and the same was done to the front trunk compartment. Overall it turned out pretty good.

REAR TRUNK

MOTOR COMPARTMENT

TRUNK LID

FRONT TRUNK COMPARTMENT

Then the lug nut covers were cleaned and reinstalled on the car, so that pretty much was the extent of the work that was done today. The Fiero EV is ready for it's first car show!

FIERO SIDE VIEW

Fiero Front VIEW

FIERO REAR VIEW

All of the preparation is done but there is still a problem with the ignition switch sticking and takes a little wiggling around to get it to turn. WD40 was sprayed in the key hole and it seems to have freed it up, so I will throw the can in the tool box when I go to the show, just in case it acts up again. Also I have mapped the shortest route to the car show using rural roads most of the way but still have a 50 mile round trip, so I am a bit worried about running out of juice on the way home. I have signed up for Chargepoint but have never tested the J1772 outlet. The adapter cords will allow me to charge at standard outlets, so I am going to go for it!